Synergies are set to shape the countenance of the city’s downtown as the province announced this week it will begin paving on the main thoroughfare through the Silver City.
A $1.7-million contract has been awarded to Interoute Construction Ltd. of Crescent Valley to resurface sections of Highway 22 and Highway 3B in the Trail and Warfield area, paving the way for the first phase of the City of Trail’s Downtown Plan.
Councilor Kevin Jolly said the start of the road work means the city will begin work on its Gateway Corridor, a framework of entry features and a green streetscape to “build an urban identity to provide ‘cues’ that a visitor is entering the downtown.”
“This is an excellent opportunity to dovetail a couple of projects and leverage the improvements and create a more impactful appearance for the downtown entry point and the gateway we are creating for the downtown in Trail,” he said.
People will see improvements all along Victoria Avenue this summer, Jolly said. The Trail Memorial Centre will also be painted at the same time, and renovations are underway on the old Dairy Queen building across from the centre.
For its part, the city has employed MMM Group of Kelowna on some design details for the Gateway and are awaiting a response. Jolly said the design will be ready to be implemented by the time the paving starts this summer.
“The timelines are a little bit loose right now because we are dependent on some of the work and the synergies of doing it at the same time, so it’s pretty hard to put an exact date on it until they get more information from (Ministry of Transportation),” he said.
The Downtown Opportunities and Action Committee had endorsed the gateway corridor as the key priority for 2012 and Trail council supported that view, earmarking $100,000 out of the capital fund to the project.
“What we’re really looking at doing is creating an inviting entrance to the city that directs people not just onto that main route through town, but into the downtown,” said Jolly
Highway 3 in the Castlegar area and Highway 3B near Fruitvale will also be paved. As part of the contract, over 2.5 km of Castlegar and Nelson area local side roads will also be resurfaced.
The province is also investing $1.75 million to reconstruct and resurface Highway 3B through Rossland. This work is in conjunction with improvements being delivered by the City of Rossland. Work is underway and is scheduled to finish this fall.
